Material used to make picks

[freakparade3]

lol what you stealen girls bras now?

What do you mean "now"?

[BraveHeart.]

hahahaha

dont we all do it?

[E1001]

Okay, I got pics of my sink cleaner (mini plumber snake thing) and some picks I made out of it.

Sink Cleaner by Peerless (available at Walmart)
Flat Steel (it comes with a short coil at the end for grabbing gunk)
Set of picks next to a piece a bare piece of the material
Close up on picks

The flat steel is a 0.25 inches wide and is 0.032 inches thick, after forming the picks and some good sanding it came out to 0.025 inches thick. Oh and it was $4.95 and it's got 20 feet. Only problem I had is the slight curve it has because it comes in a roll, but you can slowly bend out the curve and make it flat.

From what I've been reading around, it seems like street cleaner bristles are preferred for pick making first, then wiper blade inserts. How does this sink cleaner stuff compare to the bristles and wiper blades?

Also, did anyone try out the rake bristles for making picks? If so, how did it turn out?

[raimundo]

Some of the best material for pick making is the 12" long half inch wide feeler gauge material that comes from precison or starret, you can order these online or buy them individually from a machinests jobber. You specify what thickness you want, usually from .018" all the way to .028" with .025" being the best first choice. Its a foot long and enough to make a number of picks, I used to split them diagonally in 3 inch lengths, so I could get quite a few picks from a single feeler guage.
splitting them is a real trick, I take the 3 inch length, and score it deeply with repeated passes of the general tool carbide scriber, this is an aluminum handled scriber with a stout little tip rather than the expensive starrett scriber which will also work, but the acute taper of the tip means it will quickly break. then with a triangle 4" needle file, I put a lead in to the scribed mark and with one of the halves deep in a vise jaw, so only the line appears, I start to break it with a toothless plier, this will curl the part above the vice jaw just a little bit, but you can uncurl it after splitting and it will be flat again.
The diagonal should start about 3/16" from one edge and to to 3/16" from the other edge.
the feeler gauges can be ordered to thickness, are relatively cheap, but if you order online and have to pay shipping, be sure to get a good supply of them so you don't have to pay excessive shipping for just a few. I usually got them from the local machinests jobber.
You don't have to split them, you can just to the grinder thing, but as usual, keep it cool, don't mess with the temper of the steel, as its perfect as it is.

[E1001]

Some of the best material for pick making is the 12" long half inch wide feeler gauge material that comes from precison or starret, you can order these online or buy them individually from a machinests jobber. You specify what thickness you want, usually from .018" all the way to .028" with .025" being the best first choice. Its a foot long and enough to make a number of picks, I used to split them diagonally in 3 inch lengths, so I could get quite a few picks from a single feeler guage.
splitting them is a real trick, I take the 3 inch length, and score it deeply with repeated passes of the general tool carbide scriber, this is an aluminum handled scriber with a stout little tip rather than the expensive starrett scriber which will also work, but the acute taper of the tip means it will quickly break. then with a triangle 4" needle file, I put a lead in to the scribed mark and with one of the halves deep in a vise jaw, so only the line appears, I start to break it with a toothless plier, this will curl the part above the vice jaw just a little bit, but you can uncurl it after splitting and it will be flat again.
The diagonal should start about 3/16" from one edge and to to 3/16" from the other edge.
the feeler gauges can be ordered to thickness, are relatively cheap, but if you order online and have to pay shipping, be sure to get a good supply of them so you don't have to pay excessive shipping for just a few. I usually got them from the local machinests jobber.
You don't have to split them, you can just to the grinder thing, but as usual, keep it cool, don't mess with the temper of the steel, as its perfect as it is.

Thanks Ray, good info. I'll definitely try this method out after I burn through a bunch of the windsheild wiper inserts I picked up today

[Everett]

The oil and transmission fluid dipsticks from cars make very good picks. I've tried making them from anything I can find and dip sticks are by far the best. The most suitable ones come from Ford cars. Also, I've made a few picks from titanium tent stakes from REI. They work well, and titanium stuff is just cool. Here's a few of my homemade picks--three from dip sticks and one from titanium tent stake. I still make the wrenches from wiper inserts, but I'll never go back to them for the picks.
[/img]

[E1001]

The oil and transmission fluid dipsticks from cars make very good picks. I've tried making them from anything I can find and dip sticks are by far the best. The most suitable ones come from Ford cars. Also, I've made a few picks from titanium tent stakes from REI. They work well, and titanium stuff is just cool. Here's a few of my homemade picks--three from dip sticks and one from titanium tent stake. I still make the wrenches from wiper inserts, but I'll never go back to them for the picks.
[/img]

Yea I have a dipstick I'm gonna try out too. I think I'm just going to try to experiment on my own with all sorts of different materials, and find out which one works the best for me.

[savs2k]

i tried to make one out of a hacksaw blade but it came out really flimsy. it bends very easily. did i use the wrong blade or am i just applying too much pressure when picking?

[savs2k]

i actually made a 2 new picks with a sawzaw? blade. Its the heavy duty retractable saw blades. I had a few left from cutting exhaust tubes so the blades were already worn off and the blade was heat treated from use. There alot studier then the hack saw blades and work really well for a newbie like me. The quality of these blades are 200% there. THe only down side was i paid $35 for a pack of 4or5. But i bought 22" inch blades so one blade goes a long way especially if you make doubble sided picks like me. Thickness is a bit bigger then a normal hacksaw blade but can always be grinded down to preference. If anyone is intrested i can take pictures to compare thickness but dont laugh at my picks they were done 100% on a grinder since i lost all my dremel bits

[zeke79]

Okay, I got pics of my sink cleaner (mini plumber snake thing) and some picks I made out of it.

Sink Cleaner by Peerless (available at Walmart)
Flat Steel (it comes with a short coil at the end for grabbing gunk)
Set of picks next to a piece a bare piece of the material
Close up on picks

The flat steel is a 0.25 inches wide and is 0.032 inches thick, after forming the picks and some good sanding it came out to 0.025 inches thick. Oh and it was $4.95 and it's got 20 feet. Only problem I had is the slight curve it has because it comes in a roll, but you can slowly bend out the curve and make it flat.

This is exactly what I use but the snakes I buy come from lowes and luckily the two packages I have purchased have been between .023 and .025" thick. Just right for pick making. Mine were about the same price but are only 12' long if I recall correctly.

[cppdungeon]

does anyone know the difference between the kinds of hacksaw blades? when i go the the store there are several kinds. "bi metal" "HCS" (high carbon steel) and something with cobalt. what is the best for picks?

[datagram]

does anyone know the difference between the kinds of hacksaw blades? when i go the the store there are several kinds. "bi metal" "HCS" (high carbon steel) and something with cobalt. what is the best for picks?

No idea what the differences are, but I'd imagine the high carbon steel would be the best.

dg

[zeke79]

does anyone know the difference between the kinds of hacksaw blades? when i go the the store there are several kinds. "bi metal" "HCS" (high carbon steel) and something with cobalt. what is the best for picks?

Not really an answer to your question, but if you can find the plumbing snakes we are referring to give them a shot as they are just about perfect in width for a nice handle and the best thing about them is that they seem to be a good quality spring steel. I sent one I made out with a set of falle safe picks I sold (I think it was the falle safes) and it was just a copy of a standard southord hook thinned down a bit and the buyer which I cannot remember who it was either pm'd me to see where I got the pick I made as I think he was impressed with the feel and the strength of the pick. The brand of snake I bought really is a high quality spring steel. I wish I had the wrapper that the snakes came in so I could tell you the brand but I tossed the wrappers long ago. Other brands are surely to be about the same quality or better and at 12' plus for $5 you really cannot beat the price. Especially when you look at the fact that you dont have to worry about grinding the handles down to the same thickness as other picks you made. The only work required is to work your general shape onto the pick with a bench grinder, then either use a dremel to get to your final shape or a good set of needle files. I recommend needle files. Then finish them by progressing to finer and finer grits of sand paper. To sand those hard to get to places and not change the pick shape use a trick that Raimundo taught me and many others, simply wrap your sandpaper around a chopstick. Then it is just a matter of cutting the very back end of the pick to a half circle or even easier just put a small radius on each corner to keep them from poking into your hand anywhere.

Raimundo makes his picks out of street sweeper bristles and are some of the best finish quality picks I have owned. It is just that for my main picks I want a bigger handle of around quarter of an inch wide. Thickness of my pick handles doesnt bother me. I prefer peterson plastic handles but can pick just as well with my own picks made from the sink snakes with no type of handle on them to increase the thickness from the standard stock size it is.

Since going to sink plumbing snakes, I never make picks from hacksaw blades anymore. Just my opinion.

[pickmachinist]

I know that an electrician's "fish tape" is very similar to the drain snake that was referred to earlier. They are typically spring steel and are available in a lot of different lengths and widths. You will normally find lengths from 25' all the way up to 300'. I have seen smaller, cheaper versions at the 99 cent stores.

[raimundo]

fish tape is a bit thicker and not as wide, usually, and all drain snakes are not equal, the one I bought was obviouly hot rolled so it had surface irregularities, rather than the nice finish that Zeke 79 got.

Fish tape with its extra thickness would be good to have around for other types of picks and such things as lever lock tensors. In fact, all sorts of heavier tensors could be made withit.